Early EU Founders: How the U.S. Patent System Can Help Protect Your IP

Online Seminar hosted by The Digital Hub, Dublin 8, Ireland and organised by Dr. Dunja Skoko, The Digital Hub's Technologist-in-Residence, on 19th of May from 2:00pm -5:00pm for EU and global founders, spinouts, university innovators, and early-stage teams interested in protecting their IP and preparing for investment.

Many start ups at the pre-funding stage need to secure investment, yet investors expect intellectual property to be protected. Filing a full patent is expensive and in many countries including across Europe, there is no simple or affordable way to reserve rights early.

This creates a catch-22: protection is needed to attract investment, but funding is needed to afford protection.

Public disclosure risks:

• Ideas shared at demo days, in media interviews, or at conferences can lead to public disclosure, which may make patenting impossible in home jurisdictions.
• Software protection limitations: Even when software solves a technical problem and represents a core business asset, it is often excluded from patent protection in the European Union and other regions.

These are common barriers for early-stage founders—not only in Europe but globally. What many don’t know is that the U.S. patent system offers practical, flexible tools to navigate these situations—tools not available in most other jurisdictions.

Hosted by The Digital Hub, and organised by The Digital Hub’s Technologist-in-Residence, Dr. Dunja Skoko, this free Zoom seminar will bring together expert speakers including a U.S. Patent Attorney, a U.S. Patent Examiner, designers and entrepreneurs who will share actionable strategies to help founders, spinouts, university innovators and early-stage teams protect their IP and prepare for investment.

Date: Monday, 19th May 2025
Time: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM (GMT+1)
Location: Online (Zoom)
Event Schedule: See below
Register for free: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7323628942005796864/

This symposium will explain how the U.S. system can help you:

1. File early at low cost using provisional applications so you can speak to investors or collaborators without delay
2. Use the 12-month grace period after public disclosure to file a valid U.S. application
3. Patent software innovations under broader U.S. eligibility rules
4. Build trust among investors, collaborators, commercial partners and institutions with “patent pending” status
5. Secure an early invention date while gaining time to refine your full application

Who should attend:

EU and Global founders, academic spinouts, university innovators, and early-stage teams—particularly those outside the U.S.—who want to protect their IP, recover public disclosures and prepare for funding.

We will focus on unique U.S. legal tools such as provisional patents, broader eligibility for software and the 12-month grace period — practical options that are not always available or easily usable in Europe.

Founders, spinouts, and early-stage innovators will gain actionable strategies to:

• Protect their technologies early at a low cost
• Recover from early public disclosures
• Enhance credibility with “patent pending” signalling
• Move forward without delaying product development or investment conversations

Event Schedule:

2:00–2:30 PM: Joel Olympio – Industrial Designer and Entrepreneur
Joel is co-founder of The Focus Co., recognized by Dyson, Prototypes for Humanity, and the Irish Design Institute for innovation in design, technology, and inclusion.

2:30–3:00 PM: Ryan McCormick – U.S. Patent Attorney
Ryan focuses on helping tech start ups build patent portfolios especially in software technologies like cybersecurity.

3:00–3:30 PM: Filip Zec – U.S. Patent Examiner
Filip is a mechanical engineer and experienced patent examiner specializing in cooling and refrigeration systems including vapor compression, Peltier, sorption and cryo-cooling technologies.

3:30–4:00 PM: Rachele Didero – Fashion and Textile Designer, Researcher, Entrepreneur
Rachele is the founder of Cap_able, developing patented textiles to protect individuals from facial recognition systems.

4:00–5:00 PM: Networking, Open Discussion, or Additional Speakers (TBC)

Author
Digital Hub Team